How to Cool Off a Dog?

Scientifically it was proven that dogs usually don't respond to the temperature in which humans feel too hot; their heat resisting capacity is very high.

How to Cool Off a Dog?- In some conditions, the temperature might strike the heat-resisting capacity of dogs, and as a precautionary measure, the owner should know how to cool off a dog.

Usually, the situation when your dog feels too hot comes in very rare cases, but to prevent the dog from sudden exposure to the hot environment, the owner must know the preventive measures. Give them regular cool fresh water and wet towel sessions, for instance.

As dog owners, we often used to have thought that whenever we are burning out of the hot weather, our canine also feels the same because we also take the pet with us for frequent bathing. But this information can be quite confusing.

That's why everything that will help the owner obtain knowledge regarding the process of cooling off a dog will be discussed in this article. So please keep on reading the article to get the information.

Why is it Necessary to Cool Off a Dog from Heating?

Most of the time, dogs don't feel hot as humans do. This hot canine feeling can be due to fever or some situation like getting stuck inside a car.

In both cases, dogs have a chance to get heat strokes, also known as hyperthermia which can be a deadly condition for the canine.

When the body of the canine reaches the temperature of 103 degrees farad, the canine is considered to be in a fever, but it can also be due to excessive anxiety or excess stress.

Dogs often strike this temperature due to extremely hot external temperature or excess workout sessions in humid conditions.

The excessive hot temperature of the canine's body needs to be cooled down because whenever the dogs get hyperthermia, the muscles get rigid, the heartbeat of the canine gets irregular and fast as compared to the normal one, the breathing rate also increases, the skin begins to turn blue, the blood pressure becomes abnormal along with the buildup of fluid in the lungs and impaired blood coagulation.

All these changes in the body due to the sudden exposure of the dog to that extremely high temperature can cause kidney failure and lead to death.

To stop these dangerous changes from happening inside the canine body, the owner is suggested to cool down a dog whenever it feels too hot, as a bit of negligence can cost them their most lovable friend.

 How to Know When the Dog is Feeling Extremely Hot?

The body of your canine used to give some responses to the extremely hot temperature by noticing that the dog owner can know that the canine is getting hot, and it's time to take the precautions to save them from that heat stroke. The symptoms a dog owner can go with to detect excessive heating in dogs are.

Frantic Panting

Dogs usually pant when they get excited, but they also use to pant when they feel overheated as they can't sweat like humans.

The panting of dogs helps them to inhale rapidly, thus humidifying and exhaling the air. As a result, the evaporation of the water from the dog's body increases which makes the dog cool.

Extreme salivation

The behavior of extreme salivation is almost noticed in all types of dog breeds whenever they feel hot. Extreme salivation in dogs increases the surface area of the tongue, which makes the heat vanish in the surrounding air, thus helping the dogs cool down.

Increased Breathing Rates

When dogs get overheated, they start to breathe faster as the elevated breathing rate helps them release the body's hot temperature throughout the nasal cavity. You will notice that they keep on gasping, as if they want more air.

Lethargic Behavior

Due to the excessive heat in the body, the dogs use different processes to release it, resulting in the loss of the energy present in the body. Thus making the dog appear lethargic in behavior.

These are the topmost behaviors a dog used to give whenever it felt extremely hot. So if a dog owner is looking for tips to detect overheating in dogs, they can go through the points mentioned above to take preventive measures.

How to Cool Off a Dog?

As we have discussed the symptoms through which a dog owner can detect overheating in dogs and have also mentioned why the preventive measure is necessary. So now we will discuss the steps a dog owner can follow to protect the dog from overheating.

Provide Regular Access to Fresh and Cool Water

Like humans, water can also work as the best resource to cool a dog down the excessively hot temperature inside the body. It is considered the best source to cool off the dog as it cools down the dog's stomach from the inside.

It is suggested to the dog owner that they keep on adding ice cubes to the canine water bowl as in hot weather, the water gets warm up rapidly.

This will be beneficial because dogs will find it tempting to drink chilled water in the hot season. Thus the temperature of the canine's body will also remain in control.

Move the Canine to a Cool Place

The second-most preferable step to comfort the canine from that unpleasant and extremely hot situation is to move the canine from that extremely hot place. For doing this, the owner has to take the canine to a place with a cooler or an air conditioner.

If you are outside, take the pet under the shadow of a tree or a shaded place. The shady place will make the dog feel cool as shaded areas provide less heat exposure.

Use a Wet, Cool Towel

If you have noticed that the temperature of the canine's body is still not getting down after you shift him to a cool place.

The use of a cool towel over the body of the canine can be the best choice to go with. For cooling the canine with the help of a wet towel, all the owner has to do is just take a bowl filled with fresh water.

The owner can also add some ice cubes as per his choice, dip the towel in it, and squeeze out the excess water from the towel.

After squeezing out the water, the owner has to dab the towel over the body, and once it gets warm, the owner can also go for dipping it again in the chilled water bowl. The owner can repeat this process until the body cools down.

Avoid Workout Sessions in Humid Conditions

It was proved in the research done on the dogs during the humid seasons that whenever the canine is given exercise sessions in the middle of extremely hot weather, the body of the canine gets heated excessively, which can also lead to a heat stroke.

Thus, avoiding the workout sessions in the hot weather can help your dog maintain a balance between the internal temperature of the body and the outside temperature.

Use an Ice Pack

Providing some dose of chilled and freezing water to your dog can work wonders in cooling off the temperature of the canine. To prepare an ice pack, you can just use a plastic bottle, fill it up with water, and then put it in the deep freezer.

Once the water inside the bottle turns into ice, you can give it to your canine. That's all you have to do. The canine will decide the posture in which it is comfortable to apply.

Provide Swimming Sessions to the Pet

As we all know, water is the best source to cool down the body's temperature. So it was seen in dogs that when they are provided with regular swimming sessions, they feel relaxed as the body cools down automatically after coming in contact with water.

Hence we can say that regular swimming sessions can be helpful in controlling the temperature of the canine's body.

Trim the Canine’s Hair

Just like humans used to trim their hair whenever they feel hot, this theory also applies to dogs. When the hair of the canine gets trimmed, the pet's ability to resist heat increases, thus maintaining a balance between the temperature outside and inside. 

All the steps mentioned above are based on the experimental searches done by the cynologists over the behavior of dogs suffering from extreme hot conditions.

So if a dog owner is looking for steps to prevent the dog's body from excessive heating, they can completely rely upon the steps mentioned above to get the best results.